It was a dark and drizzly night in the woods and a group of 7 of us were following a path lit exclusively by glow sticks hanging ominously in the trees. The ground underfoot was muddy and a fire lay await in the distance. We were all starting to think this was the start of a very scary horror film and deciding in what order we would be killed off.

In fact, this was the start of the Fubra Universe team’s Tuesday night which they had chosen to spend in a wood in the middle of nowhere to experience the 2nd Aldershot Scout’s hammock camp open evening.
The children were spending 5 nights in the woods sleeping in hammocks and learning Bear Grylls style survival techniques, and for their last night they had invited us and their parents to show us what they had done on camp.

The Fubra Universe team were more than impressed with the skills the Scouts had developed and one of our newest developers, Jorge, was so enamoured he wanted to stay and learn the skills himself. We were shown demonstrations of rope tying, cutting wood with axes, stake carving and even how to create fake wounds with plasticine and a rather stomach turning coloured custard.

We soon found that this was actually no ordinary camp, it was one of the most up to date camping experiences any of us had ever seen. The Scout leaders used a device which included a solar panel and small wind turbine to generate electricity. Using this technology the camp were able to live stream a film from the internet for them all to watch.

Towards the end of the evening, we all huddled around the roaring fire while the Scouts lit their fire torches and were presented with their badges, many of which they had achieved through the work they had done on the Fubra Universe project. Fubra was also awarded a special certificate for our contribution to their development.

It was a fantastic experience and great to see what the children achieve when not covering our office in paint or coding on our Raspberry Pis. They were back to basics and learning outdoor skills which is what Scouts is all about. The leaders had done a great deal of work and we were privileged to view the camp and their achievements. You can see all of our photos from the evening here.

I have a final note to the Fubra Universe team for next time we are invited to an event in the woods; take some advice from the Scouts and “Be Prepared”, white trainers and smart lace up shoes are NOT suitable footwear for a night in the woods!